About Me

Weave the films, Being There and Gandhi into a tapestry of gourmet Mediterranean vegan cuisine, organic wine and a sound track by Nina Simone, place it in a philosophical artist community in Italy near a beautiful body of water, fill it with people who have a passion for chess and an acceptance of psychic abilities, frame it as the book, Illusions by Richard Bach and you have a fair representation of who this woman aspires to be and sometimes is.
Often called a Renaissance woman by others, while inwardly feeling like a Jane of all trades, master of none, jd smith is a writer, performer, Reiki practitioner, empath, intuitive consultant, advocate for equality and occasional chess coach.
She lives on the Southern California coast in a small and relatively peaceful beach community yet, considers herself a New Yorker at heart.
Ms. smith has been married for nearly two decades and is the chief care giver to a senior parent and a toddler child.
Life is good! Si non è vero, è ben trovato -as the Italian's say: even if it's not true, it should be.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Food Allergy Alert: What Everyone Should Know

My daughter has life-threatening food allergies to eggs and bananas. Approximately 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies, according to The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). The odds are in favor that a child with severe allergies will come into your life. What you are about to read could save that child's life.

If you have a baby with signs of colic, they may actually have food allergies. In such an instance, please be sure to test for allergies before getting vaccinations as some vaccines are made with eggs. In serious but rare cases, if a child is allergic to eggs and then injected with a vaccine with eggs, the result can lead to death.

An allergy can present itself in many ways. Symptoms include rash, eczema, swollen tongue, watery or itchy eyes, vomiting, diarrhea, choking and inability to breath. If your child ever says, "My tongue itches" or exhibits any of the above reactions, I recommend breaking out the Children’s Benadryl and seeking medical attention immediately.

Any food has the potential to be an allergen. The most common offenders are nuts, eggs, wheat, soy, milk, and seafood. To help others with allergies, please be as conscientious, understanding and flexible as possible. My daughter cannot attend parties or eat out in uncontrolled food environments. Food doesn't have to be ingested to cause a reaction, contact alone can cause a problem. We read the ingredient labels on everything and the postscript that tells if the food was made on equipment that also processes allergens. If anyone with an allergen on their hands were to touch anything that my daughter could then touch, or if anyone were to kiss her after eating something with an allergen, she could have an anaphylactic reaction. My daughter's food allergies are not flexible, therefore we need others to be.

The advice western doctors have given us is to breastfeed for as long a possible. We carry individual servings of Benadryl (antihistamine) and Jr. EpiPens (adrenaline) at all times in case she does stop breathing, but that is a treatment for a reaction not a cure for the allergy. The only treatment is avoidance of the allergens.

We have nevertheless had hopeful results with alternative, eastern medicine. A treatment called NAET that is usually administered by chiropractors, has been able to successfully cure many children and adults of their allergies.